Weekend in More Detail

I don't usually have a problem with insomnia, but after my regular waking in the night (go to the bathroom, feed the cats, back to bed), I tossed and turned and got up and went back to bed for upwards of 90 minutes. I bring this up in order to ask your patience if I say something that seems nonsensical. I got through the day, but only just. ::blink::

So! Apple Festival weekend!

I know what you really want to know: How did Grandma like the tarantula?

She liked it! A lot!

She also wore it like a pirate's parrot:

I gave it to her Friday night, and when we visited her on Saturday, it was on display.

According to my aunt, she has named it Herman. So there's that. Whew! She liked it.

Moving on to the traveling, it went fine. It's a long drive, honestly; 300 miles at a stretch puts a lot on my neck and shoulders, for some reason, no matter how often I stop and how much I shift and wiggle (the chiropractor went to town on me yesterday, oof). The drive on Friday included some rain, only briefly so heavy that I got concerned, and the drive back was sunny and lovely and had a few pockets of heavy traffic I could have done without--I'm looking at you, 84/Mass Pike interchange--but it also included an ice cream stop, and some lovely leaves. The foliage is not at overall peak, but in places the colors were glorious.

As for the Fest itself, Friday's rain made the ground very muddy, so I was glad that I had my big boots, and it was chilly, too, but it gradually cleared and the weather just got better and better. We've had far worse, for sure; there's nothing like attending a festival for 40 years to give you a sense of the possibilities. Shorts? Parka? Everything in between? Yes.

This year, unlike previous years where we have shopped the crafts before taking our turn selling pies at the church booth, we were on pie duty first. It went fine; not hugely busy, but enough people wanted to be sure of getting theirs before they sold out that it was worth being there. Once released from that, we went for early french fries, so fresh we had to wait for them to come out of the fryer, and so good, mmm.

Then it was time to walk the tents. The crowds were pretty heavy, considering the less-than-perfect weather, and honestly what is with people just stopping in the aisle and not even making an attempt to step aside if they want to look at something, but overall the browsing was good. I didn't buy that much, some years are like that, but I did get a couple of photos for my office wall, or rather my aunt got them for me for my birthday, and of course yarn. You knew that was coming! Photos of all that to come.

By the time we left, I was physically exhausted, and very glad to eat some lunch and just veg out for a few hours. We then went to show Grandma the haul and hang with her for a while, before going out to dinner. A quiet evening at home, a quiet morning and early lunch Sunday, and I headed home again. Whirlwind, really; it's funny how much shorter three days feels versus four.

Carlos would absolutely vote for the shorter trip, of course, once I vetoed his first choice (my never leaving him again). Several times a day, the last two days, he has come into the office and meowed at me, to let me know that I was needed in the bedroom to cuddle the cat. If he keeps that up tomorrow, it will go on longer than I was away, but I don't imagine that will stop him. Of course, I missed him too, but he has to live without me now and then. Whether he wants to or not.